2019 Fall Western Trip: On to Wisconsin

Monday, 9/16:  302 miles and parked at the KOA in Richmond, Indiana

Patio site # 16

It was another warm and pleasant morning.   We said our good byes and were on the road by 9:00.  We stopped at the first rest area on I-79, about a mile from where we got on, to dump the holding tanks on the camper at the dump station.  That was a HUGE mistake.  The dump station site was filthy!!  We arrived at the Richmond KOA about 2:30.  This is a very nice, small, locally owned KOA and the owners are amazing.  We needed propane, and they picked up the propane tank and then delivered it back to us.  Never had that service before.  We had a deluxe patio site, so we sat outside for our customary Happy Hour drink.  That evening I had wanted to watch episode 2 of the new Ken Burns documentary about Country Music.  I had watched the first episode Sunday night, but for the life of me, I couldn't find a PBS station on the TV.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to stream it on line sometime.

Tuesday, 9/16:  320 miles and parked at the LaSalle/Peru KOA, Peru, Illinois.

Site #1

We left the campground about 10:00.  We have a 300 plus mile drive today, but we also transition into the Central Time Zone, so that lets us set the clocks back one hour.  The route consisted of I-70 to Indianapolis, then I-74 until it meets I-39 where we turned north.  We have traveled I-70 before, but I had completely forgotten how much truck traffic there is.  In fact, 70 gets so much traffic, the road is in really rough shape.  Interstates 74 and 39 were much better.  Indiana and rural Illinois have amazing amounts of farmland.  There were field after field of corn and soybeans.  A real contrast to mountainous West Virginia.  We arrived at the campground at 2:15 and set up.

Tomorrow we drive to Amherst, Wisconsin where we will spend 3 nights to visit some long time friends, Dave and Ann Wright. 

Wednesday, 9/18:  240 miles and parked at Lake Emily County Park

Site 7.  Beautiful site and private, but difficult to back in to.

We have camped at Lake Emily several times in  the past.  It is a very nice park with huge, wooded sites.  The only downside for some is that the hookups are electric only.  We have discovered we can camp here for 3 nights easily with electric only.

Back to the drive today.  It was Interstate 39 almost all the way.  Lot's of construction, but never any travel blockages.  We left at 9:00 this morning and arrived exactly at 1:00.  After filling the RV up with water, we were all set up and relaxing at 2:00.

Dave and Ann stopped about 3:30 and we got caught up while we had a drink.  We haven't seen them since about this time last year.  I have know them since when they lived in Gouverneur back in the later 60's.  Shortly after that, they moved to Colorado and our visits, needless to say, were much less frequent.  Later in life, they "retired" to Wisconsin.  We try to visit once a year on our travels.  They have a wide circle of friends, including a group that meets every Wednesday at nearby Sunset Lake for an evening picnic.  So we joined in tonight and met some of the folks we have got to know very casually on previous visits.  It was a fun picnic.  Backed to the camper and we had after dinner drinks and then crashed.  Long day!!

Sunset Lake Park

Thursday, 9/19:

Today turned out to be a downright yucky day.  There were thunderstorms all night.  In fact the dogs woke me at 4:00 because of the thunder.  Yucky days are good days to catch up on chores.  We did laundry and grocery shopping in the morning, and naps and reading in the afternoon.  The weather cleared later in the day and met Dave and Ann and went with them to watch their friendly, informal weekly musical group play Irish music. We have met some of the musicians before, and it was fun to watch.

For dinner we went out to the Ambrosia, one of the local eateries, with huge servings and cheap prices.  We were back to the camper by 8:00.

Friday, 9/20:

Today turned to be much nicer, with temperatures in the mid 70's and partly cloudy.  Dave and Ann stopped to pick us up about 11:00.  We are off to visit the 2019 Birds in Art Exhibit at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau.  114 artists from all over the world were selected to show 127 pieces of work.  The exhibition was absolutely stunning!

We found a neat place for lunch, the Wausau Mine Company.  After a great lunch, it was back to the camper.  The Wright's had a 5:00 obligation, so they agreed to meet back at the camper for dinner about 6:30.  We cooked pork ribs in the Instant Pot, followed by a quick, hot grilling on the BBQ.  We had planned on left overs, but that didn't happen. 

After dinner, we said our sad good byes.  We have so much fun with Dave and Ann, and only get to visit once a year, if that. They are good, good friends.

Tomorrow we hit the road again, heading further west with a series of one night layovers.